Fry an egg with a solar-powered backyard death ray

Using a Fresnel lens taken from an old rear-projection TV, Grant Thompson channelled the heat of the sun into a 1000 degree Celsius ray.

April 15, 2025 · 1 min · 46 words · Sabrina Harris

Who said “hot dogs”?

Backyard tinkererGrant Thompsonis not a bully but he does have a giant magnifying glass.

Now, Fresnel lenses are pretty powerful.

We’ve already seen industrial designer Marcus Kayser use one to create asolar-powered 3D printer for sand.

Got a taste for Fresnel lenses?